The following is my translation of an article called: Der versteinerte Wald von Hilbersdorf bei Chemnitz, Prof E Kaiser, Plauen. It appeared in a German popular science magazine, Kosmos Handweiser für Naturfreunde 1914, Heft 3, Seiten 125-126.
I'm not aware of any previous translation.
Trevor Dykes.

The fossilized forest of Hilbersdorf near Chemnitz, Prof E Kaiser, Plauen
The fossilized forest of Hilbersdorf near Chemnitz is undoubtedly the most valuable natural monument in the Kingdom of Saxony. It consists of some thirty petrified araucarian trunks which, previously, were displayed in the Kunsthütte but are now in the park of the König-Albert-Museum of Chemnitz, and find themselves under the charge of Professor Dr Sterzel. One of the thickest trees has a circumference of 5.25m and a height of 7.5m, while the tallest trunk measures 20m. Of great interest have been the microscopic examinations conducted of the tree trunks; the microscopic probes, poppy leaf-thin, polished wafers of stone, allow the cells to be recognised, and these still often retain remains of the organic substance, precisely as clear as if samples taken from living plants were being observed under the microscope.

The petrification of the trunks occurred in a manner similar to that in the Yellowstone Park, where fifteen Tertiary forests are known to lie fossilized one above the other; they are embedded in porphyry tuff, an easily workable rock from the end of the Lower Permian, and this is also when the volcanic lava and ash at Beutenberg near Chemnitz formed. The chemical decay of the volcanic material also provided the silicic acid that was carried to the roots of the trees in water and, via the normal consumption processes, into the cells inside of the trunks, and it was led up into the branches and twigs. Silicic crystals built up in these cells, and filled them increasingly until they lost their elasticity and ceased their consumptive functions. The tree slowly died, it no longer bore fruit, blossoms or leaves any more: therefore, other than for a few impressions of leaves, one finds neither blossom nor fruit on these fossilized trees. Brought down by earthquakes, the trunks broke into individual pieces, so called "rubble", which one has been able to put back together. The bark is always missing from the trunks, and this leads one to conclude that the crystallisation did not proceed from outwards, but rather from within. In the holes of the tuff stone, in which the trees are contained, one certainly does find the impressions of the bark along with the attachment positions for the branches and leaves; the bark has thus fallen off during the decay, and in its place one finds a coal-like substance with, here and there, coaly masses of magnesium mud (Manganmulm). As fossilisation material one also finds blue calcium fluoride that probably had to do with the flumarole, as fluor-hydrogen, for example, often builds up after a volcanic eruption.

Apart from the araucarian, the plant world of the Lower Permian contained a further series of interesting forms, and these are also exhibited in the Chemnitz museum, and they make up the most spectacular and valuable objects such as, for instance, tree ferns with the name of Starsteine (from 'star stones', Pharonien), and also cycad-like fern trees, cordaites, and horse tail-like Kalamarlazeen of the genera Arthropitys and Kalamodendron. During the Lower Permian, a similarly warm climate prevailed as during the preceding Carboniferous. One generally terms the fossilised substance of the araucarian trunks with the name Araukariorylon (araucarian wood).

It is understandable that one has tried all available means to conserve this valuable treasure, the 'fossilised forest of Hildersdorf', for the future world: one has painted the trunks with heated linseed oil so that the powers of weathering, the change from frost to heat and the moisture contained in the air, cannot attack them. However, this valuable find is not only a landmark for the city of Chemnitz, but it has also become a scientifically important natural monument of the first rank and, year in and year out, the juniors of geological science make pilgrimages to receive new, interesting information about the development and construction of our Mother Earth. It should also be mentioned that further fossilised forests have been discovered in California, Colorado, Nebraska, Alaska and in our colony of East Africa, and these are still not yet subjects of full research.

An index of more of my translations of old Kosmos articles can be found at:

Kosmos Translations Archive

A number of Mesozoic (and post-Mesozoic) location summaries can be found at Localities.